Punch-drunk love: Adrian Firkins (silver and black shorts) and Ricky Welsby propose to Debbie Tyler and Nikki Vyse in the middle of the ring after their fight (Picture: SWNS)

Two romantic boxers refused to pull any punches when they proposed to their girlfriends in the middle of the ring after a fight.

Adrian Firkins and Ricky Welsby may have drawn their fight after going head-to-head but they won the hands of their girlfriends in marriage.

Firkins, 44, and 24-year-old Welsby proved they were lovers as well as fighters after the WBU welterweight duel at the Copthorne Hotel in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.

Ricky Welsby proposes to girlfriend Nikki Vyse (Picture: SWNS)

Promoter Peter Jackson called Firkins’s 41-year-old partner Debbie Tyler and Welsby’s girlfriend Nikki Vyse, 22, into the ring for photographs after the contest.

The shocked women were almost out for the count when they were asked the big question – but luckily both said yes.

‘I’m glad I got through it and didn’t get knocked out, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to propose to Debbie,’ said father-of-two Firkins, from Halesowen, West Midlands.

Loved up: Adrian Firkins and Debbie Tyler (Picture: SWNS)

‘I’m happy she said yes and a bit relieved – it would have been pretty embarrassing if I had been rejected in the middle of the ring in front of everyone.’

Welsby, from Cradley Heath, West Midlands, added: ‘Everything went perfectly, it really couldn’t have gone any better. A draw was a fair result and both the girls said yes, it was just brilliant. It is probably the most nerve-wracking thing I have had to do in my life, especially in front of that many people.’